May 2018 – Sionnach's Online Lair

Zen Alpha Audio Book!

So, I’ve been doing some other things besides wanting to strangle Facebook and WordPress for their horrible lack of support regarding GDPR. (They could really learn a thing or two from MailChimp, who provided tools and easy to follow instructions for their users. I LOVE MailChimp!) But I’ve actually been focused on more than just GDPR. I’m creating an audio book!

Soon, my M/M contemporary romance Zen Alpha will be available as an audio book. I found a wonderful voice actor to narrate it, Hugh Bradley.

This is my first audio book, so I’m really excited! Working with Hugh has been fabulous. If you’re an author looking for someone to narrate your book, you should check him out. He not only has an attractive voice, he has a great sense of timing and seems very versatile.

Zen Alpha should be coming to Audible soon!

GDPR and Me

New regulations from the EU are going into effect May 25, 2018. These regulations are designed to protect the privacy of EU citizens on the internet. I wholeheartedly support the spirit of these regulations. I wish the U.S. would do more to protect the privacy of its citizens.

However, trying to make my website and newsletter compliant has been a big headache. I’m not a lawyer nor an IT professional. I’m an indie author. I’m a writer–and I’ve done very little of that lately because I’m so anxious about running afoul of these regulations. I have put up a privacy policy on this website. You can read it here. Apparently, somewhere behind the scenes of my website, WordPress has a database (that is supposedly mine) of the IP addresses and emails of people who comment on my blog posts. I can’t find ANY databases anywhere. Until I can find them and figure out how NOT to collect that information, I’m disabling comments.

I’m still trying to figure this out. I will probably disable the newsletter sign-up thingy until I’m certain it’s GDPR compliant. The main thing about all of this that I find so upsetting is that the big corporations, who probably present more of a threat to people’s privacy (I’m thinking of a big one right now whose CEO’s last name begins with Z) have teams of lawyers and tech gurus at their disposal. I only have me, a bunch of cats, a dog, and a husband whose reaction to all of this was, “You’re a writer. You don’t really need a website and all of that, do you?” (Um…yeah, I do.) Unlike the big corporations, I do actually care about people’s privacy. I care about my readers. But I don’t know how to navigate any of this.

The more I try to figure all of this out, the more lost I feel. It’s enough to make me wonder if I should just stop everything. I toyed with that idea for a while. Seriously. But being a writer has been my dream since I was very small. I’m not ready to give up on it yet.

Love Your Skin!

man shower May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month! Are you aware of skin cancer? I wasn’t, honestly. My skin was just something I lived in. It kept the wet bits contained, that was enough for me. Your skin is actually pretty important. It’s the largest organ in the human body. It’s our first line of defense against bacteria. And, apparently, sun exposure is really bad for it.

I knew that. But I loooove the sun. In summers past, I spent as much time in it as possible wearing as little as possible. Sunscreen was an afterthought. If I had some, I might use it, but I was never very diligent about wearing it or reapplying it. I’m very fair skinned. I’ve fallen asleep on the decks of boats and woken up purple. I knew this was bad.

So, I wasn’t terribly surprised to hear yesterday that the biopsy of the dime-sized, latte-colored spot on my left side turned out to be basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer. It rarely spreads and, as skin cancers go, isn’t a nasty one. My dermatologist is going to cut it out, give me a few stitches, and everything should be fine. I won’t be getting on the elliptical for ten days, but I think I can live with that. Still, it could have been much worse. I wish I had paid more attention to my skin and to sun exposure.

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, there are over five million reported cases of skin cancer in the United States each year. Let’s try to bring those numbers down! Protect yourself with sunscreen and try not to burn. Here is a link to the Skin Care Foundation’s guidelines for avoiding overexposure to the sun.

Their site also has information on skin cancer and what to look for. I would advise seeing a dermatologist for any bump or blemish you think looks suspicious. My BCC doesn’t look like any picture I’ve seen on the web, so I thought it was fine. Unfortunately, google isn’t a medical degree. I didn’t seek help until the spot (which I called a large freckle–very scientific) started itching. I think it was my body trying to tell me to pay attention.

So, take care of your skin. Love it! If you’re ever reading one of my books poolside or at the beach, please use protection. My characters love you and want you to be healthy. And if you have anything worrying you, this is the perfect time to make an appointment with a dermatologist for an exam. Happy Skin Cancer Awareness Month!